“It is 98 percent done,” said Wal-Mart Manager Tim Walsh about the 90-day remodel project underway at the Wal-Mart store on F.M. 700 and Highway 87. “We still have a few touchups. We have just some things they have to fix in the construction part of it.
“Everything is where it is going to be, merchandise wise. We just have a little bit of work in the deli area and a little bit of work outside.”
Pomp and pageantry heralded in the what Big Spring Mayor Russ McEwen called “essentially a new store” Wednesday morning. The ceremony began with the posting of colors by the Big Spring Police Honor Guard, followed by singing of the national anthem by Jason Sanderson of Life Church. Walsh recognized his employees and the remodel team for “an outstanding job,” and the ceremony ended with a ribbon cutting sponsored by the Big Spring Area Chamber of Commerce.
The approximately $3.5 million project was a major undertaking by the store employes, requiring an extra 90 people to help with everything from retiling the floor to painting every inch of the store's walls. Much of the merchandise was to taken down, moved and re-shelved to fit the new layout, which should allow for easier customer shopping, Walsh said.
“The way we have the departments laid out is if you go into the home appliance area, you have everything together,” he said. “You have the bedding, the bath stuff, all the furniture, everything for your home. So it's going to very easy to shop the store once you know where everything is.”
Other changes include the expansion of departments that carry growth sales times.
“There are some growth departments out there, and not just for Wal-Mart but for the retail industry,” Walsh said. “Electronics is one of them. We've doubled our electronic size and in the amount of TVs we carry. The infants department is another area of growth in just the amount of cloths and formula and different things we carry.
“The only thing we really cut back on, as everyone knows, is that we don't sell fabric,” he continued. “We still have the crafts, sewing machines and all those things you would need. We still cary yarn but anything sold by the yard, we don't carry.”
Included in the spit and polish was the addition of the new Wal-Mart paint scheme of blue along with the sparkle logo, Walsh said, adding that only a few other stores in the nation have it at this time.
Walsh, who hails from Arizona, took over the helm of the Big Spring Wal-Mart in January as a first-time store manager, just a few months before the project began. He is quick to acknowledge his gratitude to his employees.
“It wouldn't have happened without the associates and not just the associates who actually did the (remodel) work but the associates who work here and have to answer all the questions — where's this or why did you move that or I liked the old store,” he said. “It wouldn't have happened near as smooth if we didn't have the caliber of associates that we have in Big Spring.”
During the ceremony Wednesday, McEwen extolled the changes to the store and let the employees know how important they are to the city calling them great “ambassadors of Big Spring.”
“My wife is a very frequent shopper in Wal-Mart and she says nothing but good things about the store, about the new layout,” he said. “She's been frustrated like everyone because of the fact things have moved around but she says you learn to deal with that and you learn where things are. The only thing she said over and over is that the associates here are so kind, are so caring and do such a wonderful job. And she appreciates that job.”
